“Spray Art”: Banksy’s Latest Prank for “Better Out Than In”

When Banksy announced his self-proclaimed “artist residency” in New York City, “Better Out Than In,” his fans were undoubtedly in for some trickery. (Even I, when writing a blog post for Hi-Fructose about the first day of the project, had the initial suspicion that I was about to fall victim to an elaborate practical joke.) For those who haven’t been following the saga, Banksy has taken up residency in New York for the month of October and is putting up a new art piece daily and documenting it on his website and the Instagram account @banksyny. So far, the work has ranged from modest, text-based tagging to elaborate mobile installations. Yesterday’s piece has been creating quite a buzz, as almost all of New York missed their opportunity to purchase a Banksy original for the laughable price of $60 — perhaps an ironic jab at the overwhelmingly steep auction prices of Banksy’s work.

Banksy orchestrated a stand simply marked “Spray Art” in Central Park. With all the Banksy-immitators out there, suspicious passersby hardly noticed the humble stand filled with original, signed canvases. So far, the photos of each day of “Better Out Than In” have been posted early in the morning, but Banksy held off on posting this one until later in the day so as to not spoil the surprise. The residency is nearly halfway through, so we’re anxious to find out what kind of blow-out will top off the last day of the project (which happens to be Halloween, mind you). Take a look at a video of what happened at the stand below.